Alois, Penelope, and Citron
"Come on, Mom, me? Tease him? I never. I haven't teased Eddy once our whole journey, not a once."
Mene shot Alois a look, her eyebrows raised almost comically high. "Not e'en once?" She stood there, hands on hips, lips pressed into a thin line. "Uh-huh." Fortunately for Alois, Citron diverted her attention away with her question, but it pivoted back to the boy when he gave his reasoning. Her eyes narrowed until they were little more than brown crescents.
Penelope chipped in with a much more watertight justification. She ended it with a layer of charm that, unlike before, just caused the woman to smile tightly.
The tactician finished with a light laugh. "In any case, Miss, there's something I really want to know." Her eyes flashed with delight as she looked over towards Alois. "Just what did Alois do to make the mayor dislike him so? I know he can be quite bold with how he speaks to people so I'm ever so curious what he might have said to start this little feud of theirs."
Mene stared at Penelope for one tense second before sighing, weariness replacing wariness. "Well, if'n ye ask the mayor, it's anythin' and everythin'. He'd get mad if'n Alois read his books, didn't chop enough wood, or whenever he done made his usual comments." She paused then, giving a small smile that didn't reach her eyes as she looked past the group. "There might be more to it, but that's fer the mayor t'say."
Gunther, Sienna, and Tsetseg
When Raki leaned over to pet him, Icleias bumped his head against the Isaurian's hand, as if wanting more pets, while Lassie took hers with stoic dignity. Afterward, she woofed, before glancing back and forth between him and Timmy with what was best described as a doggy look of worry.
"Ah, so he's not a rock." Gunther muttered.
"W-well, even if he isn't a rock," Phai replied, "s-so long as he's not a bad guy…" she gulped, glanced at the dogs, took a deep breath, and let her shoulders fall. "Then that's okay." She flinched slightly at the boy's shout, form quivering like an aspen before settling still when nothing happened.
"Anyway, I've been already introduced, but I'm Raki, nice to meet you. Uhh... Timmy has been helping taking care of me for the last tennight here... Oh. Er, it's alright if they know, Timmy?"
Gunther reassured the boy, to which Timmy joined in with his own. "Yep, yep. We kin trust Phai, and anyone wiv 'er is pro'lly good, too." He nodded his head, eyes closed in hearty assurance.
The conversation continued, with Phai staying quiet until the topic of Raki's transformation came up. "Ehhh?! You turned into an animal too?" Her fearful attitude looked to have thawed slightly as she smiled at him. "A lizard, huh? That's so cool! I turned into a beaver, but it was kinda lame cuz everybody else did too. Except beavers are hardworking, so I guess that's fine!"
"An' I turned intae a goat!" Timmy called out. "A billy goat!"
Phai plowed on as if the boy hadn't spoken. "So you've been here for the last tennight without us even knowing?! But wait, that would mean, whenever I came by for patrol, you were there but I didn't see you. That's not good. That's not good at all." She looked down. "It means that…" she clenched her fists and looked down. "I need to pay attention better!" The girl looked back up, eyes blazing like silvery comets.
She kept up her determination even when Garinphasia arrived, her momentary fear dissolving into wonder. "Garinphasia?" Her eyes lit up. "Oh, so that's who you were calling for earlier. She's so cool!" Phai didn't approach though, respectful of the low growl emitting from the wyvern.
"Och, it's Gonnafaceya!" Timmy cheered from down in the pit. "Raki, ye thinkin' ya both can git me on outta this 'ere hole?"
Edrick and Ciela
The two walked through the village, passing people finishing their repairs for the day. The villagers watched them go with a mixture of gratitude and vigilance. With Ciela’s strategy in place, it didn’t take long before they approached a prominent building painted in garish hues. Sharp eyes would spot a hole in the window nearest to the second-floor balcony. A couple of horses stood eating from a trough of hay, one cream and one silver bay. Neither seemed interested in the duo, though the silver bay flicked its ears toward Remy.
Link
After breaking the window and opening it, Link landed in a long hallway lit by the windows lining one side and the chandelier above. A red velvet carpet thrown over the wood flooring gave a quiet surface for the mercenary to walk. Paintings lined the walls, all of Gaston. The hallway had two doors at each end and another, larger one facing Link.
Link would hear voices to his right, both recognizable. They passed through the polished elmwood surface of the far right door.
A sonorous voice with a sneering timbre spoke first. "Bumbling buffoonian! Cannot affirm that…"
"But Pylauses…just a boy…" The second voice was higher pitched with a slight rasp.
The first voice cut it off with a scathing remark. "Foolish fool! Then…inform…contrivances…"
OOC